Coroner clears wife - but judge's fireball death remains a mystery

The mystery surrounding the death of a judge killed in a fireball in the grounds of his country home may never be solved after a second inquest today failed to reach a definitive conclusion.

Andrew Chubb, 58, perished in a blaze at his farmhouse near Chard, Somerset, just over an hour after telling his wife, Jennifer, 60, he was ending their 34-year marriage.

But at the end of a second inquest, held after years of campaigning by his mistress Kerry Sparrow, a coroner said today the cause of the fire remained "unascertained".

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Coroner Sheriff Payne said there was not enough evidence to prove it had been an accident or suicide.

But he stressed he was satisfied there was no third party involved in his death.

The coroner said: "It has not been possible to determine whether he was disabled from escaping by the effects of the products of combustion or any other means.

"Both the means and the cause of his death remain unascertained.

"Evidence that might indicate that he had expressed thoughts of harming himself fall far below proof beyond doubt that is the standard request for the conclusion that he deliberately took his own life.

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In recording his narrative verdict, Mr Payne said it was a mystery why Judge Chubb had closed the doors to the shed and why he had not tried to escape from the fire.

"It is likely that the fire was caused or accelerated by the ignition of petrol vapour.

"It has not been possible to establish how the vapour arose nor the source of ignition.

"There was no electricity or gas supply to the shed. No match or means of fire lighting were found."

On the night of his death in July 2001, Mr Chubb had driven home to his farmhouse near Chard to tell Mrs Chubb he wanted a divorce.

But within an hour of telling her and walking out to his shed, the judge was engulfed in a fireball.

His body was burnt to such an extent his remains were unrecognisable.

The blaze was initially treated by police as a tragic mishap and the first inquest concluded a verdict of accidental death based on the theory that a spark from his lawnmower might have caused a huge explosion.

But with suspicions remaining among detectives, Mrs Chubb was arrested the following year on suspicion of murder and perjury.

Police suspected she had a motive - both financial and personal, in light of him having an affair - and questioned why, as a nurse, she had not gone to his aid.

But she was cleared after the Crown Prosecution Service dismissed evidence against her.

Mrs Chubb started a new life in Australia having inherited his million pound estate along with several hundred thousand pounds of life insurance.

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But one woman remained dissatisfied.

Mr Chubb's mistress of two years, Kerry Sparrow, 38, spent five years campaigning for a second inquest, eventually convincing the Lord Chief Justice.

During the resulting five day hearing at Glastonbury Town Hall, Coroner Payne heard a series of attacks on the police investigation.

Within 24 hours of the blaze the remains of the shed had been bulldozed and Mr Chubb was cremated before a pathologist could determine whether he was dead when the fire started.

Dr Hugh White, a forensic pathologist for the Home Office, also attacked the results of a hospital post mortem, saying they were "insufficient", "confusing" and "did not make sense."

Witnesses who had not testified at the original inquest described how Mrs Chubb initially said that her husband had committed suicide before changing her story.

It was claimed she insisted it was more likely to have been an accident after finding out his two life insurance policies, worth £100,000, would not pay out on suicide.

The inquest also heard evidence from two neighbours that Mrs Chubb took down washing from the line in their garden while the fire which killed husband was still burning.

Friends of the judge gave evidence, unanimously claiming Mr Chubb would never take his own life.

Mrs Chubb, who declined to return from Australia to give evidence herself, claimed in statements her husband was being blackmailed by legal secretary Miss Sparrow.

But Miss Sparrow said she was "blissfully" happy with Mr Chubb, who, she claimed, was locked in a loveless marriage.

Miss Sparrow, who stormed out of the inquest at one point, claimed the judge had told his wife of their affair just before he died.

During the hearing, she said: "I do not believe Andrew died accidentally or by his own hand."

After the inquest,Miss Sparrow, who was tearful after hearing the coroner's verdict, took more than an hour to prepare a statement.

She said: "It has taken six years for there to be a proper inquest into Andrew's death. The coroner has considered all of the available evidence. I will probably never know for sure what happened on the night Andrew died.

"The Police Complaints Authority said in 2003 that the original investigation was 'far from thorough'. It has also become clear that Dr Fisher's post mortem did not address fundamental issues.

"I sincerely hope that no one else has to go through what I have been through and I hope that my fight encourages other people to seek the truth.

"Andrew passionately believed in justice and I know that he would feel that I have got justice for him."

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said there was "no chance" officers would reopen the inquiry.

A statement released by the force said: "Avon and Somerset Police have long accepted that there were some shortcomings with the initial investigation into the death of Judge Andrew Chubb, which is why the case was subsequently re-investigated. Any lessons learned have been implemented.

"The force has fully co-operated with this and the original inquest hearing and supplied all the evidence we have from all investigations.

"As an organisation, we feel that the tragic death of Judge Chubb has been examined on a number of occasions and that a line must now be drawn. There are no plans to examine this case again in the future."